What we’re watching today:

Various theories on why last weekend's negotiations with Iran failed to bridge differences between Tehran and the international community continued to swirl today, with some new reports pointing to Iranian demands that the West acknowledge that it has a right to enrich uranium - it doesn't - and others emphasizing French concerns over Iran's demand it be allowed to continue bolstering its plutonium facility at Arak. The Arak complex has a heavy water production facility and a heavy water reactor, and once the reactor goes "hot" it can't be destroyed but will produce two bombs worth of plutonium per year. Writing in the Huffington Post yesterday, Foundation for Defense of Democracies scholar Michael Ledeen emphasized that while "France wants a deal with Iran," Paris has a decade-long history of rejecting deals that it is convinced are "destined to fail." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was reported as having rejected a planned deal with Iran as a "sucker’s deal" due to terms related to Arak, which would have allowed Iran to continue developing Arak as long as they didn't activate the reactor. But Tehran had already acknowledged that it wasn't going to activate the reactor until mid-to-late 2014. Even more dangerously, Iran would have been allowed to run tests during the interim period, amid analyst concerns - based on bizarre Iranian descriptions of how the tests would be conducted - that the trial runs will be a ruse to turn the reactor on. Dr. Bruno Tertrais, senior Research Fellow at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS), advised observers on Saturday to understand the French position by starting with “the Strange Tale of Dummy Fuel Assemblies and Light Water Testing.”

Politico late tonight published analysis describing various Senate views on legislation that would "slap an immediate new round of sanctions on Iran," a day before Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew are set to brief senators on last weekend's failed negotiations in Geneva and hours after White House Press Secretary Jay Carney implied - according to the Los Angeles Times - that lawmakers pushing for new sanctions against Iran were putting Washington on "a march to war." Carney also declared, again per the Los Angeles Times, that American citizens may "turn their anger on lawmakers" who seek to increase the kind of financial pressure on the Islamic republic that the administration until recently was emphasizing had coerced Iranian leaders into seeking compromise. Iranian state media picked up and rebroadcast Carney's statements both in print and on television, stating that Carney had "warned Congress, which is currently mulling tougher sanctions on Iran... that opposing a deal with Tehran could lead to war." It is not known whether any of the 178 House Democrats who voted in July to increase sanctions on Iran were briefed beforehand about the White House stance.

Analysts and diplomats used the one-year anniversary of Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense - which was launched against terror groups in the Gaza Strip after months in which Palestinian groups had escalated both the amount and the sophistication of weapons fired at Israel - to unpack a marked deterioration in Hamas's position since the campaign. The week-long operation last November has been described by observers as a clinic in how to wage modern urban warfare, with Israel substantially degrading the Palestinian terror group's command and control infrastructure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today toured the Israeli Defense Force's Gaza Division and noted that rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip had dropped 98 percent in the last year, totaling to just 35 instances, most of which had "been ineffective." David Barnett, a research associate at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), yesterday published an extended analysis of Hamas's position a year after Pillar of Defense. Barnett assessed that "a year later, Hamas is in one of its worst positions since its founding in 1987" and that Israeli statements asserting that Jerusalem had established a deterrent against attacks from Gaza have "been largely true." Hamas is nonetheless known to be positioning itself for an upsurge in violence, and FDD Vice President of Research Jonathan Schanzer has called for the U.S. and its allies to strike a financial death blow to the organization before it can reconsolidate.

Reuters is in the midst of publishing a three-part investigative expose on the "massive financial empire" created by Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who among other things guided an organization ostensibly dedicated to assisting the poor into amassing tens of billions of dollars and inserting itself into "nearly every sector" of Iran's economy including "finance, oil, telecommunications, the production of birth-control pills and even ostrich farming." The first part of the series details how property seizures conducted by Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam – Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam - enabled the organization to "become one of the most powerful organizations in Iran" and to acquire holdings across Iran's economy. Setad was allowed by Khamenei to confiscate and then leverage the real estate of thousands of properties owned by religious minorities and Iranians living abroad, until today it "holds a court-ordered monopoly on taking property in the name of the supreme leader, and regularly sells the seized properties at auction or seeks to extract payments from the original owners." The second part of the series details how Setad's diversification across the Iranian economy - a chart developed by the organization and leaked to Reuters is posted here - has "provide[d] an independent source of revenue and patronage for Supreme Leader Khamenei" despite Western efforts to squeeze the Iranian economy.

Dozens injured as family throws hand grenade into Iranian prison to try to halt execution

What we’re watching today:

Israeli soldiers this weekend uncovered a mile-and-a-half-long tunnel running between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and ending near an Israeli kindergarten, underscoring concerns that the Iran-backed terror group is seeking to rebuild its fractured credibility with a spectacular terror attack. The left-leaning Israeli paper Ha'aretzreported that the tunnel was "part of a broader tunnel-building project that is estimated to have cost millions of dollars." Hamas has used more primitive tunnels in the past to conduct operations on Israeli soil, most notably the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, which was followed by Israel's 2006 Operation Summer Rains. Security officials estimate that this tunnel – which IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai described as "one of the most advanced terror tunnels to be uncovered in recent years" – was intended to facilitate an attack on the nearby kindergarten. Hamas's regional and domestic positions have been in free fall for almost a year. Israel's November 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense has by all appearances deterred the Palestinian group from launching rockets and missiles and Israel, cutting off a traditional source of credibility. Meanwhile Cairo's post-Muslim Brotherhood government has put Hamas on notice that activity in the Sinai Peninsula will not be tolerated. Analysts fear that, having been stymied in the Sinai and unable to bear the costs of another rocket war, Hamas will shift to a strategy of targeted terror attacks. A spokesman for Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades posted on Twitter that "thousands" of tunnels would be dug in response to the discovery.

The Washington Post's editorial this morning emphasizes that Iran's "advanced centrifuges and the Arak [plutonium] reactor must now be part of any deal" that would provide Tehran with sanctions relief, since the "new facts" established by Iran's recent installation of advanced uranium and plutonium technology have "torn some big holes" in what might have been a more reliable deal even a year ago. Iran has signaled that it is prepared to offer limited concessions in exchange for Western concessions on sanctions, including limiting uranium enrichment to 3.5%. The Post notes that Iran's advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges "can process uranium far more quickly [than before, and] these new machines create a threat of an Iranian nuclear breakout beyond that posed by the 20 percent stockpile." This evaluation is in line with analyst estimates that Iran could go from 3.5% purity to weapons-grade purity quickly enough to evade Western detection. Meanwhile Iran's Arak complex, which involves both a heavy water production facility and a reactor that would use that heavy water for plutonium production, would give Iran the material for two nuclear bombs every year. U.S. lawmakers have called on Iran to, among other things, completely dismantle its nuclear program and - critically - to ship out all enriched uranium. Iran has brushed aside the expectations, with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi noting on Sunday that Tehran would not agree to export its stockpile of enriched uranium. The posture has been dubbed by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht as Iran's strategy of simultaneously pursuing both nuclear weapons and sanctions relief. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) took to The Telegraph this weekend to similarly blast suggestions that the West should accept "superficial concessions" such as limiting enrichment to 3.5%, describing such a potential agreement as "appeasement."

Hezbollah allies are scrambling to fend off charges that the Iran-backed terror group is pushing underwater drilling in order to manufacture a conflict with Israel, with Michel Aoun saying late last week that Lebanon's caretaker government was not moving fast enough to open up disputed underwater areas to exploration. Aoun is head of the Hezbollah-allied Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). At stake are three 'blocks' along the contested Israeli-Lebanese maritime border. Both Hezbollah and Lebanon's caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil - who, like Aoun, is a member of the Hezbollah-allied FPM - have been pushing Beirut to issue tenders to energy companies that would explore and eventually drill in those areas. The move would be a de facto claim of sovereignty over the contested territory, and as a matter of black letter international law, Israel would be forced to act either legally or militarily or both. Energy companies had last week expressed trepidation over drilling in the disputed areas, after which Hezollah and Hezbollah-allied politicians doubled down. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea last week blasted the group for trying to create "another front with Israel" by forcing the issue of drilling in contested waters, and National Liberal Party leader Dori Chamoun the same day criticized Hezbollah for trying to cause "another clash with Israel" using oil rights. Hezbollah's brand as a Lebanese organization protecting Lebanese territory from Israel has been shattered by its involvement in the Syrian conflict on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime, and observers fear that the group may be trying to drag Lebanon into war with Israel so as to restore its image.

Twenty-eight people were injured when relatives of an Iranian prisoner set to be executed threw a hand grenade into the prison where he was being kept in a failed attempt to prevent the execution. The attack will be read against the backdrop of ongoing executions and human rights violations being committed by the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The regime is on pace to match last year's mark of 500 executions, and reform leaders in Iran have in recent weeks called attention to the plights of still-imprisoned political dissidents. Rouhani had already triggered alarm bells among human rights activists when he nominated Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi - long a target of human rights criticism for his role in the mass murders of political prisoners - to be his Justice Minister. Rouhani himself has a history of calling for the execution of anti-regime activists.

Iran is attempting to expand its influence into impoverished African nations by funneling ammunition and supplies to state actors and terror-linked rebel groups throughout the continent, fueling ethnic conflict and government repression. A recently published expose in TheNew York Times reporting on a global Iranian arms network stretching from Afghanistan to Africa comes as concerns deepen that Tehran is projecting power and fomenting unrest using a variety of diplomatic and military tactics.

The New York Times report provides details on Tehran's role in supplying the weapons for low-level government violence and ethnic conflict in the Ivory Coast, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Afghanistan. The small arms, created without any marks to indicate origin, have been linked to "spectacular examples of state-sponsored violence and armed groups connected to terrorism."

Ammunition of Iranian origin was recently intercepted en route to the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Palestinian Iranian proxy Hamas. The terror group is attempting to rebuild after an eight-day conflict with Israel saw its military leadership severely degraded and its stockpile of advanced weapons almost completely eliminated. The aftermath of the campaign, which Israel dubbed Operation Pillar of Defense, secured a month-long cessation in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip not seen since at least 2004. Nonetheless, Hamas officials have attempted to claim victory, in part by crediting Iran for assisting the group and incentivizing Tehran to amplify the message.

Iran’s increasingly open interference in Africa and the Near East echoes its campaigns for increased influence – and territory – in the Gulf. At a meeting last month of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a top Bahraini official described the situation with Iran as one in which "politically, (there is) lots of meddling in the affairs of GCC states; an environmental threat to our region from the technology used inside nuclear facilities; and there is of course the looming nuclear program." Iran claims all of Bahrain as an Iranian province.

The GCC also issued a joint communique last month blasting "continuing Iranian interference" in their internal affairs, accusing Iran of fomenting unrest among Shiite populations in the region, and criticizing Tehran for pressing territorial claims against Arab states. The statement urged action regarding Tehran’s atomic program, widely suspected of including a clandestine weaponization component. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have publicly and privately urged military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Leading candidates from Israel’s major parties emphasized Tuesday that Iran’s atomic program, widely thought to have a clandestine weapons component, will constitute a central concern for Israel’s next government.

The politicians’ statements, which came as part of a pre-election debate hosted by The Israel Project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reflect an Israeli consensus – mirrored by ones which exist in Gulf countries and in the West – that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons would grant the Islamic republic unacceptable immunity as it conducts global terror campaigns and pursues regional expansion.

Israeli analysts and politicians have also emphasized that Iran’s atomic program is approaching an inflection point after which sufficiently degrading it will become untenable.

“We are getting closer to the red line,” veteran politician Tzachi Hanegbi of Likud-Beiteinu told the crowd of some 300 diplomats, journalists, and others. Naftali Bennet, the leader of the Jewish Home party, echoed the warning, noting that “the window of opportunity is closing.”

Candidates differed on the degree to which the current geopolitical situation permitted making further territorial concessions in pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Hanegbi, whose Likud-Beiteinu party slate maintains a dominant position as Israel’s January 22 election approaches, emphasized the need to move “forward... [and] go back to the negotiating table.” Hanegbi drew a distinction between Likud-Beiteinu and parties to its right, characterizing the Jewish Home platform as one drawn up by political neophytes who underappreciate the need for pragmatic governance. Hanegbi outlined that Israel accepts the reality of "millions of Palestinians who believe they have a right to independence" but emphasized that the current Palestinian negotiating stance - which involves claims by millions of refugees on territory inside Israel's 1949 armistice lines - is untenable.

Addressing other regional dynamics, candidates expressed hopes that Israel could revive its relationship with Turkey. Jerusalem’s relationship with Ankara has been in crisis and efforts by Israel to restore it have been largely rebuffed. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in November mocked envoys sent by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “weird,” and he subsequently branded Israel a “terrorist state” for launching its Operation Pillar of Defense after months of escalatory rocket fire from the Iran-backed terror group Hamas.

Yesh Atid’s Yaakov Peri, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, noted that an alliance with Turkey was in Israel’s strategic interest and urged that “every effort” be made to restore it. The point was echoed by Labor’s Isaac Herzog, who advocated for “enhance[d] cooperation.”

The debate, which was moderated by Marcus Sheff, the executive director of TIP’s Israel office, involved a series of short presentations followed by a Q&A period. The candidates addressed a range of domestic and foreign policy issues, from the Arab-Israeli peace process through scenarios for disintegration along the Israeli-Syrian border.

Egyptian security forces have intercepted a shipment of American-made missiles bound from North Africa to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to Arabic and Israeli sources.

The news deepens concerns that Palestinian terror groups are exploiting the increasingly anarchic situation in the Sinai Peninsula to move advanced weapons into the Gaza Strip. Egyptian forces have proven either unable or unwilling to dislodge increasingly entrenched jihadist forces, including Al Qaeda-linked groups, from the area. Terror campaigns against civilians and Egyptian officers are increasingly prevalent. During Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense last November, Hamas managed to fire more than 1,500 rockets into Israel, many smuggled in by way of tunnels from the Sinai.

The story also comes at a particularly delicate diplomatic time, as some are pressuring Israel to again pursue territorial withdrawals and concessions in the context of peace negotiations, this time in the West Bank. Analysts have outlined a series of disturbing parallels between the situation in Israel’s south, where Cairo’s loss of authority over the Sinai Peninsula has enabled weapons to flow to the Iran-backed Hamas faction, and a potential situation in the West Bank should Israel withdraw further.

The Jewish state withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and saw it seized by the Hamas by 2007. The Egyptian Arab Spring, which empowered a Muslim Brotherhood-linked government in Cairo, later boosted Hamas's prospects by putting a broadly sympathetic government on the Gaza border.

Israeli officials have expressed concerns that further withdrawals from the West Bank risk a similar scenario. Hamas has been increasingly open in pursuing control of the territory, just as dynamics in countries to Israel's east and northeast raise the specter of nearby regimes that would facilitate arms traffic into a Hamas-controlled West Bank in the way that the situation in the Sinai Peninsula has facilitated arms traffic into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

There are thousands of Al Qaeda-linked forces operating in Syria, and jihadist leaders have already committed to attacking Israel after Assad’s fall. Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood-driven instability in Jordan has created fears that events in Amman may follow the same path as the Egyptian Arab Spring, which has brought to power an Islamist government. Analysts have judged that the election may present the Muslim Brotherhood with an opportunity to foment popular instability around the polling, independent of straightforward electoral considerations.

Either scenario – a jihadist takeover of Syria or a Muslim Brotherhood government in Jordan – would put forces deeply hostile to Israel in close proximity to the West Bank. Israeli diplomats and analysts may be unable to discount those larger regional dynamics in evaluating the stakes involved in making concessions in the West Bank.

A month after Gaza terrorists fired more than 1,700 rockets in a week towards Israeli homes, Israel has made its initial assessments of the operation it launched to stop the projectiles.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) also published statistics on its activities during Operation Pillar of defense. Water and electricity supply to Gaza carried on as normal, with faults to the 10 power lines into Gaza being repaired during the fighting. Hundreds of trucks carrying goods entered Gaza from Israel during the eight-day conflict. This despite rocket fire aimed at the Erez border Crossing on Nov. 20.

“While Hamas actively exploits and endangers their civilians, COGAT's activities are yet another example of the measures that Israel takes to minimize casualties and harm amongst that very same population,” the COGAT report stated.

Terrorists fired a rocket toward Israel on Dec. 23 for the first time since fighting ended a month ago. The rocket fell short and landed inside Gaza. Israeli security officers arrested two Palestinians on Sunday after they had illegally crossed the border fence and entered Israel.

The rights group Human Rights Watch condemned Palestinian terrorist groups it said fired rockets at Israel during Operation Pillar of Defense. HRW said such blatant attacks against civilians amounted to war crimes, and Iran’s admission that it supplied weapons know-how to terrorist groups in Gaza “constitutes the aiding and abetting of war crimes.”

HRW also documented that terrorists in Gaza carried out rocket launches from densely-populated areas inside Gaza, and said “statements by leaders of Palestinian armed groups that population centers were being targeted, indicate that the armed groups deliberately attacked Israeli civilians and civilian objects.”

“Home front agencies performed very successfully during the operation, saved the lives of many citizens, and allowed daily life and vital services to be maintained in a situation of prolonged rocket fire,” he said.

“Our intention is to continue to improve. The home front is one of the main fronts in any security scenario; therefore, the Government will continue to invest in it.”

Over the next few weeks, the agencies will report back to the premier with recommendations should similar conflicts occur.

The cabinet approved on Sunday a plan to bolster support for residents of southern Israel, particularly for older people and immigrants.

Jerusalem, Dec. 24 – A month after Gaza terrorists fired more than 1,700 rockets in a week towards Israeli homes, Israel has made its initial assessments of the operation it launched to stop the projectiles.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) also published statistics on its activities during Operation Pillar of defense. Water and electricity supply to Gaza carried on as normal, with faults to the 10 power lines into Gaza being repaired during the fighting. Hundreds of trucks carrying goods entered Gaza from Israel during the eight-day conflict. This despite rocket fire aimed at the Erez border Crossing on Nov. 20.

“While Hamas actively exploits and endangers their civilians, COGAT's activities are yet another example of the measures that Israel takes to minimize casualties and harm amongst that very same population,” the COGAT report stated.

Terrorists fired a rocket towards Israel on Dec. 23 for the first time since fighting ended a month ago. The rocket fell short and landed inside Gaza. Israeli security officers arrested two Palestinians on Sunday after they had illegally crossed the border fence and entered Israel.

The rights group Human Rights Watch condemned Palestinian terrorist groups it said fired rockets at Israel during Operation Pillar of Defense. HRW said such blatant attacks against civilians amounted to war crimes, and Iran’s admission that it supplied weapons know-how to terrorist groups in Gaza “constitutes the aiding and abetting of war crimes.”

HRW also documented that terrorists in Gaza carried out rocket launches from densely-populated areas inside Gaza, and said “statements by leaders of Palestinian armed groups that population centers were being targeted, indicate that the armed groups deliberately attacked Israeli civilians and civilian objects.”

“Home front agencies performed very successfully during the operation, saved the lives of many citizens, and allowed daily life and vital services to be maintained in a situation of prolonged rocket fire,” he said.

“Our intention is to continue to improve. The home front is one of the main fronts in any security scenario; therefore, the Government will continue to invest in it.”

Over the next few weeks, the agencies will report back to the premier with recommendations should similar conflicts occur.

The cabinet approved on Sunday a plan to bolster support for residents of southern Israel, particularly for older people and immigrants

Turkey is trying to coerce Israel by essentially holding the country's Jewish community hostage, according to foreign policy experts and Turkish Jews living beyond the country's borders. The warnings come in the aftermath this week of an announcement that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) was opening criminal investigations regarding at least five Turkish citizens accused of collaboration with Israel.

Michael Koplow, program director of the Israel Institute and an expert in Turkish and Israeli affairs, described the move as "a not so subtle effort to intimidate Turkish Jews" and criticized the Turkish government for "threatening an entire minority community for nothing more than being Jews."

Rafael Sadi, a spokesperson for the Association of Turkish Immigrants in Israel, described the investigations as intimidation efforts designed to coerce Israel into accepting Turkish diplomatic demands.

The announcement of the investigations quickly generated anti-Jewish rhetoric and accusations by a Turkish Islamist group which is tied to terrorism and which analysts have linked to Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party. Huseyin Oruc, Deputy Chairman of the I.H.H. organization that in 2010 dispatched three ships to break Israel's legal blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, declared that "everyone will know who the Turkish Jews are that served in the Israeli army and killed Turkish civilians on the Mavi Marmara."

The Mavi Marmara was one of the ships in the flotilla, and its passengers attacked Israeli commandos sent to intercept the boats. Nine passengers died in the ensuing violence, and the MIT appears ready to partly blame the incident on Turkish Jews.

The possibility has raised fears that Turkey will pursue tactics similar to those Iran employs to terrorize its Jewish community. The Iranian government has been criticized by human rights groups for intimidating Iranian Jews via periodic arrests and accusations of Israeli collaboration. Reports emerged yesterday that the MIT - the Turkish intelligence agency conducting the Marmara investigations - is actively monitoring and targeting the country's Jewish population.

This is not the first time that top Turkish officials have tried to blur the line between Turkish Jews and the Jewish State. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was criticized last month for asserting that his country's Jews "had connections" in Israel and demanding that they "use them" to urge Israel to halt its Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip.

Jerusalem, Dec. 16 – The current Fatah-Hamas rapprochement has led to the Gaza-based Hamas making inroads into the West Bank, the stronghold of Fatah and its head, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah allowed Hamas to organize mass-rallies in several cities in the West Bank on Dec. 13. The gatherings were a celebration of the terror organization’s 25thanniversary, an event marked in Gaza the previous week. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal vowed to “never recognize Israel” in a speech delivered on a podium shaped like a long-range missile of the type Hamas fired at Tel Aviv during Operation Pillar of Defense.

The rhetoric in Nablus, a large city in the West Bank, was equally belligerent. Hamas-supporters took to the streets, waving Islamic flags and plastic rockets, while loud speakers announced the goal of the Palestinian population under Hamas leadership is “to die in the name of God… Create a volcano among the Israelis." Fatah-controlled police observed the demonstrations without interfering.

The Hamas Charter outlines a consistent and ideology-driven desire to seek Israel’s destruction: “Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.” And so, “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors.”

In the past five years, Fatah has not allowed Hamas to openly operate in the West Bank, but following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ successful U.N. bid in November, the two factions are seemingly restarting their reconciliation process. At the Nablus rally, Fatah Revolutionary Council Secretary-General Amin Maqbul praised Hamas for having “given thousands of martyrs, prisoners and wounded for Palestine.”

Since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense, there has been a surge of violence in the West Bank, especially in the mixed city Hebron, and the Israeli army remains on high alert.

The current Fatah-Hamas rapprochement has led to the Gaza-based Hamas making inroads into the West Bank, the stronghold of Fatah and its head, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah allowed Hamas to organize mass-rallies in several cities in the West Bank on Dec. 13. The gatherings were a celebration of the terror organization’s 25thanniversary, an event marked in Gaza the previous week. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal vowed to “never recognize Israel” in a speech delivered on a podium shaped like a long-range missile of the type Hamas fired at Tel Aviv during Operation Pillar of Defense.

The rhetoric in Nablus, a large city in the West Bank, was equally belligerent. Hamas-supporters took to the streets, waving Islamic flags and plastic rockets, while loud speakers announced the goal of the Palestinian population under Hamas leadership is “to die in the name of God… Create a volcano among the Israelis." Fatah-controlled police observed the demonstrations without interfering.

The Hamas Charter outlines a consistent and ideology-driven desire to seek Israel’s destruction: “Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.” And so, “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors.”

In the past five years, Fatah has not allowed Hamas to openly operate in the West Bank, but following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ successful United Nations bid in November, the two factions are seemingly restarting their reconciliation process. At the Nablus rally, Fatah Revolutionary Council Secretary-General Amin Maqbul praised Hamas for having “given thousands of martyrs, prisoners and wounded for Palestine.”

Since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense, there has been a surge of violence in the West Bank, especially in the mixed city Hebron, and the Israeli army remains on high alert.